Nacho Donuts

If you’ve never had our Nacho Donut, you’re missing out on one of the greatest breakfast inventions of all time. It’s a donut. But it’s nachos. All in one. It’s not too sweet, it’s just spicy enough, and it’s amazing.

Makes 2 dozen donuts and 2 dozen donut holes

½ cup buttermilk

2¼ teaspoons active dry yeast

4 cups sifted all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling

⅓ cup sugar

2 teaspoons kosher salt

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

Scant ¾ cup sour cream

3 large eggs, beaten

¾ cup grated cheddar cheese, plus ¾ cup for garnish

1 tablespoon hot sauce, such as Trejo’s, Tapatío, or Cholula

½ cup minced roasted poblano chiles (see mashed potatoes on this page for method)

2 tablespoons minced fresh chives

2 quarts (8 cups) vegetable oil

Make the Dough In a small saucepan set over low heat, warm the buttermilk to 110°F. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk the yeast into the warm buttermilk. Set aside until thickened, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, put the flour, sugar, salt, butter, sour cream, eggs, ¾ cup of the cheese, and the hot sauce in the bowl of a stand mixer.

Add the thickened buttermilk mixture to the mixer bowl, and using the paddle attachment, mix the ingredients together on low speed, stopping every 20 seconds or so to scrape the sides of the bowl, until the mixture is shaggy and no dry ingredients are visible, 1 to 2 minutes. Raise the speed to medium and mix until the dough is well combined and smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the minced chiles and chives, and mix until well incorporated, about 1 minute. Remove the paddle attachment and switch to the mixer’s hook attachment. Knead/mix on medium-low speed for about 5 minutes, until the dough has a smooth and stretchy consistency.

Let the Dough Rise Spray a large bowl with nonstick pan spray (or grease it with a little oil). Transfer the dough to the bowl and lay a sheet of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the dough (this prevents the surface of the dough from drying out). Set the bowl aside in a draft-free spot and let the dough rise at room temperature until doubled in size, about 2 hours.

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and coat it lightly with pan spray. Transfer the dough to the prepared sheet pan. Wrap the dough and sheet pan (together) tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and discard the plastic wrap. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface, flour a rolling pin, and then roll the dough until it’s ½ inch thick. Let it rest for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, line two sheet pans with parchment paper and flour them generously.

Use a 3-inch donut cutter to stamp out donuts close together (so you don’t waste dough). If you don’t have a donut cutter, use a 1-inch cookie cutter to stamp out a small round of dough from the center of each donut. Transfer the big donuts and the small donut holes to the prepared sheet pans, placing them a couple of inches apart from each other. Let the donuts proof in a warm, draft-free area until they have increased in size by one-third, about 1 hour.

Fry the Donuts If you are using a deep fryer, follow the manufacturer’s directions to heat the oil to 350°F. (Alternatively, attach a candy thermometer to a large deep heavy-bottomed pot, making sure the tip of the thermometer does not touch the bottom of the pot. Fill the pot with the oil and heat it slowly to 350°F over medium-low heat.) Once the oil reaches this temperature, try to maintain it. If it gets too hot, simply turn the heat down or off until it reduces to 350°F.

Carefully lower no more than 3 donuts at a time into the oil (if you overcrowd the oil with donuts, they’ll cool the oil and absorb it—making for greasy, sad donuts). Fry the donuts for about 1 minute on each side, gently turning them over with a spider strainer, until they are golden brown. Remove the cooked donuts with the spider strainer and set them on a wire cooling rack to drain. While they are still warm, sprinkle the donuts with some of the remaining grated cheese.

Let the oil rewarm to 350°F if necessary, then add a few more donuts to the pot. Repeat until all of the donuts are fried, sprinkling them with cheese while they’re still warm.

Follow these same frying instructions for the donut holes, adding up to 8 at a time and frying both sides until golden brown. Keep in mind that they will need a bit less time to fry than the donuts, due to their smaller size. Remove the cooked donut holes with the spider strainer and drain them on a cooling rack. Sprinkle them with the cheese while they’re still warm.

Eat the Nacho Donuts and donut holes immediately or within 4 hours of cooking (see Trejo’s Tip, this page).